Seizing the Day

"Today is the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I love love love this quote.

After going to Real Estate School last summer, and joining a very good Real Estate Company here in my hometown, I discovered that I really don't want to do Real Estate.

I learned a lot in class, and one thing about this business, is that it is constantly changing. I like change. A lot. About every 5 years or so I do something to uproot or disrupt my current state (moving to Scotland and then moving back, for example).

But, keeping the focus of this blog to Living My Passion... this quote is more about saying "Yes!" to stepping out blindly on faith to finally (finally!) Sing for My Supper, so to speak. The two pictures below are almost 25 years apart ~ I graduated from college in December of  1990 - that fall we performed "Oliver!" The picture below is from 2012... still singing & performing.

1990 - Widow Corney Unwigged (Oliver! Pepperdine University)

2012 - Sweet Adeline! Singing at the Afterglow with my Quartet, "Footnotes"

The one constant in my life is singing. Performing. I've taken some breaks, sure - but I'm always singing. I started singing in chorus in 4th grade at Parkview Elementary school - and sang all through my educational years. Then I graduated from college and found Sweet Adelines, and have continued singing barbershop for almost 25 years. I took a 4-year break to do local independent theatre (musicals, of course!), then came back to a cappella singing in 1995 and haven't hardly looked back.

I even sang with Sweet Adelines overseas.

It is now 2015. Why has it taken me 25 years to realize this, for me, is more than a hobby?

A question to be answered in another post.

Music lasts us through life

♪ "Music ... furnishes a delightful recreation for the hours of respite from the cares of the day, and lasts us through life." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Unknown Artist - If you know you deserves credit for this artwork, please comment!

Perseverance. It isn't a dirty word.

"Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance." - Samuel Johnson

Perseverance. It is the KEY to everything.

My words of wisdom for today.

I will continue to believe that "I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me."

I will continue to try not to say things to myself that I would never, ever-in-a-million-years say to anyone in my outside voice.

I will continue to make lists of "To Do's" that don't get done on the day I hope they will, but they do get done eventually.

I will continue to wake up in the morning and tell myself "I like getting up in the morning." (isn't there something about if you tell a lie long enough that it becomes the truth...?! *wink wink*)

I will continue to believe in myself. That I lost 100 pounds in 2011. That I will lose these 30 that I've gained back. That I did it. I did it. I really, really, really did it.

A Question:
Why don't I (can't I) believe that I did it? Do I not believe it because I did it with help?
Do I not believe it because it happened so fast? Do I not believe it because I listen to the 'the duck?' (another post will explain the duck).

We all have the chance and ability to start over again. Each day (thank God) is a new beginning.

I am a New Creation.

Use What Talents You Possess...

I love [adore, treasure, and hold quite dear] this quote from Henry Van Dyke ~

"Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except the very best."

I can say again and again and again how good singing is for you.  I'm not saying that singing the right notes is what is good for you.  I'm not saying that singing "in tune" is what is good for you. I'm not even saying that singing a particular song is what is good for you.

Creating sound with our bodies... making some vibrations within your body... humming your own melody that you're making up as you go along... not having to worry about keeping time with a piano... or following the words on the karaoke machine... THIS... this natural and what-our-bodies-are-designed-to-do-singing is what is good for you.

It is good for your mental health.

It is excellent for your physical health.

It is amazing for your soul.

Sing Your Song. Find the child that used to sing before the child discovered judgement. Relax into the melody your heart wants you to know.

Answers I Have

"You have the answer. Just get quiet enough to hear it." ~ Pat Obuchowski

I've been sad for awhile now. I'm not exactly sure why - probably a number of reasons.

My inner voice being quite mean to me... why do we say things to ourselves that we would never, ever in a million years say to anyone else? Even people we detest?

High expectations.

Gaining 30 lbs back.

Not working out.

Not following through.

Not being able to clear my space. - Directly related to trying to do too much and keeping things around for 'some day.' Which is directly related to not being focused on the passion... or the priorities.

Saying my priority but not really meaning it. Because I believe in the power of positive thinking... but then the other little snarky voice comes in and undermines it.

For Example: I say my priority is health - eating whole foods, limiting sugar, getting rid of wheat and then fitness (working out) for strength and cardio and for all the amazing benefits physical movement gives us.

Then I stay up too late to get up in the morning early to exercise.
I've been trying for so many years to LIKE waking up at the crack of ass (as my pal MAK says)... to enjoy the stillness, the darkness (in winter), the time to get the chores out of the way so there's more fun to do in the daylight (in the "real hours")... and yet, I stay up too late watching mindless crap on tv because (I tell myself) that is the one thing himself and I do together. It is the time we spend together.

Obviously that needs to change. We need to find something besides watching tv to do together. On a regular basis.

What Gets Me Out Of Bed In The Morning?

I'm starting a new habit focus (per Leo Babuta's 6changes.com guideline) in March, and the new habit will be to go to bed earlier so I can get up earlier and Get. Stuff. Done. in the morning.

It used to be that I wanted to get up to get my chores out of the way.

Now... I think I have to do some chores, but still have mornings where I'm doing something I love -- as that will get me out of bed in the morning.

What used to get me out of bed was the thought of a nice, hot, cinnamon frosted Pop-tart. Yep. YUM! Seriously... that would get my tuckus out of the warm, soft, comfy bed and get me moving.  Mmmmmm....

With Medifast, however ~ Pop-tarts are a distant memory, and while I may come up with a kopy-cat kind of recipe some time in the future... it isn't going to be the thing that gets me up outta bed.

I love to watch the sunrise with a steaming cup of tea ~ listening to the birds really squeak and squawk and chirp and twirp so very loudly in the mornings.
I like to have time to read the Bible and pray or meditate.
I like to have time to write Blog posts.
I like to get my house chores Out Of The Way! So I don't have to do them at night or in the afternoons.
I like checking my calendar for the day's week's focus and/or priorities (something I rarely do in the mornings).
I like getting the exercise OUT of the WAY too! I'm usually so groggy, though, and don't have anything in mind or laid out that if Rascal even gets walked, he's lucky.
I like the fact that I've planned my meals and prepped for dinner -- so I'm not groping at random ingredients that I hope will be tolerated for dinner... or worse -- succumbing to frozen delights.

But none of those things excite me like a cinnamon Pop-tart.

*sigh* ~ Maybe promising myself that I can work on doing the DCP every morning, or putting my music in order, or (YES!) making a card or two for someone... spending 30 minutes to an hour every day doing those things would certainly be the FUN FACTOR to get me up!

Maybe I've hit my inspiration!!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” - Confucius

My Time Is Limited

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Steve Jobs, Stanford 2005 Commencement Address